Blood, Insanity, and Dance Dance Revolution
by TheFrogFromHell
Summary: Kyo, Yuki, and Tohru are trapped inside a room with nothing but a Dance Dance Revolution machine. They slowly begin to lose their sanity and become paranoid, delusional, and homicidal. Rating may rise as it gets bloodier.
1. Prologue

Author's Note:

Hello! If you have somehow arrived at this url, know that you have unearthed my first ever fanfic, which I formulated the plot for at age 13 and wrote at 14. Seven years later, I read this fic and realize that it falls far short of my current writing capabilities; however, between my three jobs and the other fan fic I am currently focused on, I do not have time to go back and edit it. So… until I find time… it stands as a relic of my 14-year-old writing abilities. Anyway, enjoy! Thanks to all who have favorited; this is a… unique story, if nothing else.

Prologue

Kyo Sohma lay in his bed, half-asleep. He had been awakened by a noise downstairs. "Probably Yuki", he thought, "or Tohru." He glanced at his bedside clock, which read "4:01 AM." Only about two hours before he usually woke up.

He groggily got up and wandered over to his closet. He heard his door creak slightly, and on reflex spun around, but there was no one there. Or maybe there was, like Yuki trying to scare him? No, Yuki wouldn't do that. It was too unlike him.

Kyo stared at his reflection in the mirror. He looked so… angry, even though he didn't feel it. Was this how he looked all the time? Then, in the mirror, he saw a dark shape race across the room behind him. His heart began to beat fast. Had he imagined it? No, there was definitely someone- or something- there. Then, before he knew it, a figure was right behind him. He tried to cry out, but was muffled by a white cloth, and before he knew it, he fell into a deep, deep sleep…


	2. The Awakening

Chapter 1- The Awakening

"_Is everything ready?"_

"_Yes. We are fully prepared to begin our plan,"_

"_And the machine?"_

"_Prepared for use,"_

"_Right. Let's get started." _

Tohru opened her big, blue eyes. Everything looked so fuzzy. She blinked a few times, and her vision became a little clearer. She had a terrible, aching headache, and her rubbed her temples. She surveyed her surroundings, and noticed that she was in a large, white room. There didn't appear to be any doors or windows, on pure, unnaturally white walls. She sat up and looked at the floor. Next to her, were Yuki and Kyo, both lying asleep- or possibly unconscious. Yuki, she noticed, had a deep gash across his left cheek. "How did I get here?" she thought, "What happened?" And then, her mind was flooded by memories of the night before.

She had been lying in bed, and woke up because she heard a loud crashing noise from downstairs. She heard footsteps, coming up to her room, and her door creaked. She lay there, eyes wide, not knowing what to do. What if it was a stalker? Or a burglar? She wanted to scream, but she felt a hand over her face… and she didn't remember any more after that.

Tohru noticed a large, rectangular object that had not been there before. How did it get there? Or had she just not noticed it before? She glanced over at Yuki and Kyo. Were they asleep? Unconscious? Or maybe… she shuddered, thinking about the last possibility. She placed her hand on Yuki's forehead. It felt slightly cold. Her hand shaking, she touched his wrist to feel for a pulse. When she felt the slight throbbing, she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God," She thought. She then crawled over to Kyo, and felt for his pulse. It was there also. She looked at Kyo's face. While Yuki looked peacefully asleep, Kyo looked angry, like he was having a bad dream or something. Tohru placed her hands on Kyo's shoulders.

"Kyo," she softly whispered, "please wake up, Kyo." But Kyo stayed motionless. Tohru shook him a little bit. "Kyo… please, you've got to wake up," Tohru said. She was starting to get worried. What if Kyo was in a coma? Or poisoned? Or dying, or something terrible like that? What would she do? "Kyo! You've got to wake up!" She said, about to break into tears. She was about to have a complete mental breakdown, sobbing and crying, when Kyo cracked his eyes open.

"T… Tohru?" He said, his voice groggy and raspy sounding.

"Kyo! I thought you were hurt, or sick, or maybe… oh, Kyo!" She said, and hugged him. But then, she remembered, "Oh no! The curse! I'm not supposed to hug him! Kyo will turn into a… into a… she waited for the familiar "poof" but it didn't come.

"K…Kyo?" she said inquisitively, "why… didn't you…?"

"I have no idea," Kyo replied, dumbfounded, "what the hell is going on?" By now, Tohru had already pulled away from the hug. "Hug me again," said Kyo, "maybe it was a…a fluke, or something like that." He abruptly grabbed Tohru and pulled her into a hug. Again, Kyo did not transform. Tohru and Kyo looked at each other.

"So… does this mean-" Tohru began,

"-That the curse is broken? At least, for me, anyway?" Kyo said, "If it's broken for me, then is it the same for that damn…" Kyo's face changed into almost a sympathetic look as he saw poor Yuki, lying motionless on the ground, with a huge, deep gash on his cheek. "…Yuki…"

"Oh my gosh, Yuki!" Tohru exclaimed, and crawled over to Yuki. She cupped her hands under Yuki's head. "Oh, Yuki… you're bleeding badly…" She ripped a strip of cloth from her pajama shirt and used it to wipe away Yuki's blood. Yuki's eyes slowly opened.

"Miss… Honda?" He said in an ill sounding voice.

"Yuki!" She said, "Thank god you're alright!" She then bent down to hug him.

"Wait… Honda-san…!" Yuki braced himself for the transformation, which did not occur. She held onto him for a while, with a few jealous glances from Kyo, but Yuki still did not transform.

"So… the curse is broken?" Said a bewildered Yuki.

"I… guess so." Said Kyo. Yuki turned his head, and looked at Kyo.

"Um, I'm sorry but I guess I'm kind of confused… what are we all doing here?" Yuki said, looking around.

"I don't… remember, really…" said Tohru, "I just remember a hand, and a funny smell and then…"

"You were knocked out," said Kyo, "I was too. I remember the same thing you do."

"I don't remember any of that," said Yuki. He sat up, and Tohru and Kyo noticed that a small pool of blood had formed on the white, marble floor.

"Yuki!" said Tohru, "you're bleeding!"

"Don't worry, miss Honda," said Yuki, "I'll be fine."

"You damn rat!" said Kyo, slamming his fist on the floor, "you're not fine! You've got amnesia! That's why you can't remember anything, sheesh…" Tohru cracked an almost invisible smile. Kyo was actually a little worried about Yuki.

"What's that?" Yuki said, "over there?" He was pointing to the large, rectangular object on the other side of the room.

"I don't know," said Kyo, "let's go check it out." Kyo stood up and walked, slightly awkwardly over to the object. Tohru and Yuki followed.

Up close, the object looked quite different. It was about eight feet tall, with a giant screen, and a variety of buttons, and an almost flat pad with arrows to stand on.

"Oh, I know what this is!" Said Tohru, "it's a Dance Dance Revolution machine! My friends love this game!" Yuki and Kyo gave each other confused looks.

"Why in the heck would that be there?" said Kyo.

"I honestly don't know," said Yuki.

"Ooh, I wonder if I could work it…" said Tohru, while fiddling with some of the buttons. She soon discovered that the green button was the one that started the game, and giggled ecstatically that she would soon be playing one of her favorite games. Yuki and Kyo looked at each other, wondering how she could be so distracted from what was going on by such a simple thing.

They soon discovered why. As the flashing lights and arrows were displayed across the screen, all the colors of the spectrum, and accompanied by extremely catchy techno music, the boys were mesmerized. They could not believe that a dancing game could distract them so much from real life. All of their worries, all of their problems, they all seemed to disappear into the blinding, flashing lights of the Dance Dance Revolution machine…


	3. The Beginning

Chapter 2: The Beginning

"_We need to ask you a favor,"_

"_Yes?"_

"_To speed up the process, we will need you to… tip the scale a bit,"_

"_How so?"_

"_Forget the boy. He's not important. It's the girl we need you to manipulate… she's beginning to show the signs already…" _

Tohru finally stopped dancing on the machine, exhausted and short of breath. In terms of the game, she really had not done very well. Although the boys comforted her by using the excuse of still being delirious, they knew that that wasn't the real reason that she had performed so badly. She had managed to get a decent score, but she really had no sense of music or rhythm at all.

Transfixed by the game, Kyo and Yuki both said,

"Let me try." The two boys glared at each other, and immediately started to bicker.

"I'm going first," announced Kyo.

"No, I will go first, because if you went first, I'd have to stand behind you and make sure you didn't slip and hit that thick head of yours, you stupid cat!" replied Yuki.

"Damn rat! Why would you even care if I hit my head? You slam it on the ground almost every day, anyway!"

"Because… because it's the floor I'm worried about!"

"That doesn't even make sense, girly boy!"

"If I'm so girly, why do you want to play a game that Tohru's friends play?"

"Well, you wanted to play it just as much as I did!"

"Um… actually, I know a lot of boys who play it…" said Tohru, who was unnoticed.

"You know what, I'm sick of you, stupid cat. Let's just play at the same time."

"…Uh…. okay…." Said Kyo, looking at Yuki like he was crazy, "so, uh, Tohru… how do you work this piece 'a junk, anyway?"

"Oh, just press the green button," she said with a smile.

Yuki pressed the button, and the screen lit up again, with the familiar flashing lights. Tohru showed the two how to work the game, and soon, the boys were dancing.

Although they were not used to the machine, their rhythm was perfect. They followed every arrow, with perfect, graceful steps. They were so mesmerized by the machine that they completely forgot where they were, what had happened the night before, and… Tohru. Tohru, with her usual smile, was watching the screen, with the arrows and the flashing lights. But did her smile seem just a tad different? If it was, it was unnoticed. There was no one to see that her hands, although folded so perfectly on top of one another, were clenched into tight fists, her fingernails digging into her hands, making marks on the insides.

Finally, the mesmerizing techno music drew to an end, and the boys' scores flashed on the screen, much higher than Tohru's. The boys scanned the screen frantically, attempting to discover who had won. However, to their dismay, the scores were exactly the same. They each had not missed a single step.

"Wow," said Tohru, "you two are so talented! You can do _everything_ better than me!" And she laughed her silly laugh, with that ear-to-ear grin once again plastered on her face. But somehow, her laugh seemed a little different; forced, like she didn't quite mean it…


	4. Changes

Chapter 3: Changes

"_We need to ask you a favor,"_

"_Yes?"_

"_To speed up the process, we will need you to… tip the scale a bit,"_

"_How so?"_

"_Forget the boy. He's not important. It's the girl we need you to manipulate… she's beginning to show the signs already…" _

Kyo opened his eyes, once again to the white room. He sat up, rubbing his tired eyes. He was somehow sure that it was early in the morning, even though he had no sense of the time. To his surprise, he saw Tohru, standing in front of the DDR machine, with a disturbingly triumphant look on her face, very unusual for the kind and timid girl. Since Yuki was not yet awake, he went over to Tohru and placed his hand on her shoulder. She jumped, and turned around. She seemed unusually jumpy…

"Oh… uh… hi, Kyo," She said. She had dark circles under her eyes, like she hadn't had much sleep at all.

"Uh, Tohru…" said Kyo, "didn't you sleep at all last night?"

"Oh, yes, of course," She said, avoiding his eyes, "I just… played the machine for a while after you two went to bed."

"Oh… uh, okay…"

"Good morning," Came from behind Tohru and Kyo, causing them both to jump.

"Yuki," said Tohru, who's heart just about leaped out of her chest, "you startled me!"

"Miss Honda," Yuki said, wrapping his arm around her waist, "you really should get more sleep. You look exhausted…"

"Oh, no, I'm fine." She said, blushing.

"What's wrong, Miss Honda? The curse is broken now, so we can hug each other all we want."

"Um… okay," said Tohru, blushing an even deeper shade of scarlet. Kyo, however, just stood there, surprised by his cousin's behavior, and also feeling a twinge of jealousy.

"How about we do a round on that machine now?" said Kyo, trying to separate the two.

"You go ahead," said Yuki, who had removed his hand from Tohru's waist, but was now holding her hand.

"Fine, I will," snapped Kyo, scowling at Yuki and hopping on the machine. He once again pressed the green button, and the screen lit up with the current scores posted in order. However, Kyo was shocked when he saw whose name was in first place. The scoreboard read as follows:

Tohru 0050752 LIGHT MODE

Yuki/Kyo 0015837 BEGGINERS MODE

Tohru 0004929 BEGGINERS MODE

"You… beat our scores…" said Kyo, shocked that Tohru was capable of beating him.

"Yes… I did," said Tohru, smiling once again. But now there was something bittersweet about her smile.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to reclaim first place, then," said Kyo, half joking.

"I guess so." replied Tohru, but there was something about her tone that made Kyo uneasy.

Beating Tohru's score was definately easier said than done. Not only had Tohru only missed one step, but she had done it on a level higher. Kyo had to try his hardest to keep up with the arrows on the next level. And it didn't help that when he glanced back at Yuki and Tohru, Yuki would always be hugging her, playing with her hair, or other slight displays of affection. Tohru, being who she is, was embarrassed, but still kind and polite towards Yuki. However, she seemed a little... stiff. It wasn't about how Yuki was behaving towards her, either. Her eyes were fixated on the screne, and she stood like a statue, not moving a muscle, all tensed up. When Kyo finished his dance, breathing heavily and about to collapse, she did not run to Kyo and see if he was alright, like she usually would. Her eyes were locked on the scoreboard, which she discovered now read:

Kyo 0050753

Tohru 0050752

Yuki/Kyo 0015837

Kyo had done it. He beat Tohru's score, by a mere point. He was about to rejoice, cheer and mentally pat himself on the back, or whatever most people do to celebrate victories, when he noticed Tohru. Now, her smile definitely seemed forced. In fact, it almost looked like a scowl, but that would be impossible for her... or would it?

"Tohru, are you okay-" Kyo began, but then, he noticed something when he looked at her hands. Her fists were tightly clenched, and so tense that they were shaking. But the most noticeable thing was that crimson blood was running down her knuckles, dripping to the floor.

"Miss Honda! You're bleeding! We'll have to take care of this right away. She then released her shaking palms, holding them up to her face. She had four consecutive bleeding gashes on each hand, all in a line, from squeezing her fingernails into her palms.

"Don't you worry..." she said, almost through clenched teeth, "I'll be fine. Just FINE. Don't you ever worry about ME! Haha! I'll take care of it all by my SELF!" And she erupted into a long, hard laugh, which did not sound like her at all. It sounded like the crazy old lady across the street with ten cats, or that insane hoboe that just got out of a bar. Then, Tohru wiped her bloody hands on her pants, and went over to her bed, lay down, and fell to sleep. Kyo and Yuki looked at each other. There was something strange going on with Tohru, something very strange indeed...


	5. Jealousy

Ch 4: Jealousy

_"The manipulation seems to be working. Soon, the boy will start to show the signs. I'm sure of it."_

_"I'm afraid that he's just feeling a twinge of jealousy. I seriously doubt that he'd go so far as to attack the girl."_

_"Well, we'll see about that, won't we?"_

_"You don't know the half of it..." _

Yuki, Tohru, and Kyo had many theories as to exactly what the Dance Dance Revolution machine was doing there. One of them was that they were trapped inside an abandoned video arcade. However, this theory was proven wrong, because, for one, the machine seemed brand new; there were not even any small scratches or scuff marks. Also, the room was too white, and it had no exits or windows, so it wasn't exactly plausible that it could have once been an arcade.

Another theory that they had was that there was no room or machine at all, but that it was all merely a dream. All of it just seemed too… impossible to be actually happening.

The three of them assumed that they had been in the room for at least 48 hours, without food or drink of any kind. This made them extremely hungry and thirsty, and they also had the slinking feeling that they would never eat again, or at least not until the escaped the room. At first, they tried to joke about it, with remarks like,

"If starve, who should we eat first?" But these were only distractions from the bitter reality.

Hours and hours passed, with no satisfaction of food or water. They played the Dance Dance Revolution machine for entertainment, but decided to stop because they knew it would drain their energy, and make them hungrier, and also they were too famished and fatigued to beat Kyo's score. The ever optimistic Tohru would say things like, "don't worry- we'll find a way to get out of here soon," But this, in a way, just made things worse, not better.

Although Tohru, being who she is, was kind and polite to both Yuki and Kyo, she seemed to pay special attention to Yuki. He was always around her, hugging her, laughing with her, even kissing her on the cheek. Kyo, although unintentionally, began to become corrupted with jealousy. With every word, every jester, every touch, every sound exchanged between the two of them, he felt his face grow hot, his teeth clenched, and his hands balled into fists of rage.

The combination of the jealousy, the anger, and the terrible, biting hunger were what drove Kyo into a temporary state of madness.

One night (or at least, he thought it was night; Yuki and Tohru were asleep), Kyo simply could not sleep. He lay on the floor, eyes closed, trying to drift off into the faraway land of sleep. He used to love to have dreams, dreams that the curse was gone, dreams that Akito was no more, dreams that he and Tohru were married. But his dreams were different now. They were always about Yuki, sprawled on the floor, covered in blood, with and arm, a leg, or his back broken. He begged Kyo for mercy, for Kyo had finally defeated him. And Kyo would stand, looming in front of him, watching Yuki suffer, just like Yuki had always made him suffer. But them, Kyo would always wake up, and feel terrible, terrible for wanting to make another suffer so much, even if it was Yuki.

Anyhow, these dreams tonight would not come to Kyo, although he was weary. He opened his eyes, expecting Yuki and Tohru to already be asleep. But instead, Yuki was awake, in the corner of the vast, white room, facing the wall, doing God knows what. He seemed to be very distracted from the rest of the world, however.

Then, Kyo had a disturbing thought. This was the perfect opportunity. He could finally defeat Yuki.


	6. The Attack

Ch 4: The Attack

_"Things are not progressing as planned. I am afraid that the subjects will starve and perish before demonstrating any signs of violence,"_

_"Give it more time. Under these conditions, slight insanity is expected to appear at any time now."_

_"And what if it doesn't? What if the subjects trust each other too much?"_

_"Don't worry about them. They are naïve. It doesn't matter if they trust each other; that trust can be broken. The only thing that matters at this point is whether or not they trust you."_

_"But what about- wait- interruption-"_

_"Hello? Hello? Come in! Are you there-"_

_**CLICK**_

The thought filled Kyo with ecstasy. An insane, twisted grin spread across his face as he quietly snuck up behind the former rat. Yuki was muttering something under his breath, covering one ear. Kyo would usually wonder what he was doing, but he was too wrapped up in his plan to notice.

Just as Kyo was about to throw a punch to Yuki's back, planning to knock his wind out, Yuki turned around, with a scared and surprised, but sheepish look on his face, like he was hiding something.

"Kyo, I-" he began, but was never able to finish, because Kyo promptly socked Yuki in the bridge of the nose, as hard as he possibly could.

Yuki's hands flew to his nose, then pulled them away to fight back. His nose was obviously broken; it was now misshapen, with blood trickling down to his chin.

A look of rage crossed Yuki's face, a very rare thing for the "prince." He then grabbed Kyo's arm and twisted it, pulling Kyo to the ground, screaming in agony. Kyo, however, kicked Yuki in the groin, causing Yuki to release his arm and bend over. Kyo stood up, holding his arm, in which he felt a white-hot pain. He punched Yuki in the jaw with his good hand, and Yuki fell to the ground. He stepped on Yuki's neck, and despite his pleas, Kyo was about to press, with all of his weight, suffocating him, when he heard,

"Stop!" Kyo whirled his head around, to see Tohru, looking shocked and disturbed. "This had gone too far! I've always hated it when you two fought, but I never thought that… this would happen!" Kyo then came back to his senses and realized what he was doing. His jaw dropped and his eyes grew wide. He couldn't believe what he was about to do to Yuki.

"I… I guess I… took it too far… I mean, Yuki… I… I'm…sorry, I just… I don't even know what came over me."

And it was true. Although he despised his cousin, he never actually wanted to hurt him… that much. He never actually hated him enough to actually kill him, or attempt to…

Kyo removed his foot from Yuki's neck, his whole body trembling. Yuki sat up, the crimson blood still trickling from his nose.

Tohru tore off part of her pajama pant and handed it to Yuki.

"Here," she said, "please, clean yourself up."

He obeyed, and wiped away the blood.

Although the pain in Kyo's arm had reduced to a dull throb, he still needed some relief. As if she had read his mind, Tohru tore another large strip of fabric, which Kyo tied around his arm and shoulder to make a crude sling.

"Why don't we all just go to bed now… everything will be alright… it's alright…" Tohru's voice trailed off. She sounded like she was about to have a nervous breakdown. That's when Kyo saw something on the other side of the room that had been there before…

"What's that?" He said. He didn't want to sound over optimistic, but it looked just like…

"Food!" said Tohru, "oh thank God, we're saved!" the three of them swarmed over to the food. There were sandwiches for all three of them, and various kinds of fruit.

They ate extremely quickly, not caring if food got on their faces or their clothes. They were so hungry that nothing else mattered.

There were also three bottles of water, which they downed in about one gulp. It was only afterwards that they began to think, "why would the food come now, after a fight?" and, "what if it was poisoned?" But these thoughts were silenced as they fell into a restless, disturbed sleep.


	7. The Nightmare

Chapter 6:The Nightmare

_"Now, we have some good news and some bad news. Tell me, what is the good news?"_

_"Signs of violence have surfaced both unexpectedly and oddly aggressively. My life was almost endangered."_

_"Yes, you are correct. Although we expected the signs of violence to surface at about this time, we did not want it directed towards you. You must be more discreet with your manipulations. Because if you go, the Operation goes."_

_"But how can I accomplish what I need to without carrying out your original instructions?"_

_"The boy. Manipulate him. Trick him into believing that you're his ally. If my predictions are correct, the girl should not be showing any more signs for a while from now. Also, the boy is naïve. If it weren't for that, you would have already been discovered."_

_"I will try my hardest."_

_"No. You will not try. You will succeed, Yuki."_

Tohru opened her eyes. Although she had tried, she had not been able to sleep at all she had instead spent the entire night trying to satisfy her need to beat Kyo's Dance Dance Revolution score. And on top of that, she had a terrible stomachache from the night before. She rubbed her eyes and looked at her hands. Her palms were all scabbed up from her fingernails. Disgustedly, she stood up, putting her hands in her torn pajama pants' pocket. She would have scars on her hands for a long time.

She felt so strange. It was like the real her was gradually disappearing, and she was changing, changing into something horrible. She had always been such a kind person, or at least she thought that she was. But now she was acting jealous and even violent. She didn't understand how a Dance Dance Revolution (now known as DDR) machine could cause her to change so much. Her hands not only felt sore, but they felt… dirty, from what she had done the night before. But her thoughts were interrupted when she spotted something- food. More food? Even though she had just eaten last night? But yes, there was a bottle of milk, and a tiny box of cereal, just big enough for one person. She assumed it was for her, and she was still hungry, so she began to eat the cereal.

Kyo was having a dream. No, not a dream, it was a nightmare. He was back at the main house, and Akito had put him away in his "cage". The door creaked open, although he thought that it was locked. It was nighttime in his dream, and he decided to go outside and take a short walk.

It was quiet out there, deathly quiet. He walked on a stepping stone path in silence, through a little wooded area, past Akito's quarters, until he came to a small trickling stream. He looked at his reflection in the water, which was so incredibly still that it looked like glass. He was about to turn around and head back, when he felt icy cold hands around his throat.

"I'm sorry, Kyo," said a voice behind him, in an icy, menacing tone, "this is the end of you now!" And he felt his broken arm pulled behind his back, and he cried out, but was muffled as his head was pushed down into the stream. He struggled and struggled, in a desperate attempt to escape his watery grave, but the grip was too strong. His vision blurred and the small stream became a river, a lake, an ocean, an infinitely large body of water. But soon, Kyo's body relaxed, his struggling began to decrease.

He then discovered it was a dream, and opened his eyes, hoping for a gasp of air. But this was not dream- he was really suffocating! His sling was tied in such a way that it wrapped tightly around his neck, stopping him from breathing. He frantically tore the sling away from his face, gasping for air. When he caught his breath, he wondered how the sling had suffocated him. At first, he figured he had just tossed and turned in his sleep, causing it to twist in such a way, but that wouldn't account for the fact that it had been completely retied. That could only mean one thing- someone had tried to suffocate him during the night.


	8. Paranoia

Chapter 7: Paranoia 

_"Our plan is progressing even more quickly than we accounted for! I must congratulate you."_

_"Thank you. I have tried my hardest."_

_"Yes, you have. However, we are not finished yet. You need to begin phase two."_

_"I will, as soon as necessary."_

_"Good. I'll be waiting."_

I look around the room. Yuki and Tohru are still asleep. I would've thought that my struggling would have awakened them, but no. But wait- Tohru isn't asleep- she is sitting up, facing the wall. What is she doing? It looks like she's… eating. But where did she get food?

I tap her on the shoulder. She jumps and turns around.

"Good… morning, uh, Kyo!" She looks so surprised that I'm here. It's like… I wasn't supposed to be here or something.

"I… didn't expect you to wake up… so soon," I gave her a quizzical look. It was like she added the "so soon" part as an afterthought…

I look at her face. Again, she doesn't look as if she's had much sleep.

"Tohru, are you okay?" I ask her, "It doesn't look like you've been sleeping."

"I'm fine," she says, "Just peachy keen…" Was that a hint of sarcasm on her face?

"I… played the machine for a while last night," she says, "you're score's really hard to beat! But mark my word! I _will_ beat it! That's right, I will!" And she laughed her new, strange, almost psychotic sounding laugh.

I have been debating whether or not to tell her about the sling incident. I have already figured out who did it. It was Yuki. Definitely Yuki. He would have obviously wanted revenge for last night, and what better way to accomplish just that? To suffocate me in my sleep, when I couldn't fight back. He should really be locked up.

"Tohru, you won't believe this," I say, "last night…" I lower my voice to a whisper, "last night, Yuki tried to murder me," I expect her to gasp, or maybe say a few, "oh my gosh!" 's, or… something. But she doesn't. She just sits there, not saying a word. It seems like she's trying to avoid my eyes.

"Well, Kyo, that can't be right, I mean… Yuki would never do something like that, I'm sure of it!"

"Well, then how do you explain my sling being tied around my neck?"

"I don't know, I mean, maybe it just… ended up that way…" she sounds oddly nervous.

She is starting to make me feel weird. I quickly change the subject.

"Why don't we play a round of that game right now?" I tell her, shifting my eyes uncomfortably.

"Um, okay," She agrees, and eagerly runs to the machine. I follow her, and hop on next to her.

We start up the machine, and select a song. For some reason, Tohru's favorite song is Butterfly. Although I dislike this song, I go along with it just to make Tohru happy. However, I am surprised when Tohru selects the song, not on light mode, but on standard mode. I'm shocked that she was able to increase her skills that much overnight. I also notice that she has almost beaten my hard-earned score- the scoreboard was now tied for first place.

I select standard mode, too, curious to see if I can keep up with Tohru. It seems like she tenses up when she sees me select my level. She glanced my way, and when I looked into her eyes, it makes me feel a little… uncomfortable. The machine starts the music. Standard mode is definitely harder than light mode. I am going to have a hard time beating Tohru's score this time… I soon feel myself begin to grow tired and out of breath, and I miss a few arrows. I look over at Tohru, who, for the moment seems to have the upper hand in the game. Is that a smirk on her angelic face? No, I must have just imagined it.

I know that I have to pick up the pace. I deeply concentrate on the arrow pattern, not allowing Tohru to distract me with the almost… murderous looks she's been giving me. I begin to improve at the game, not missing as many arrows as I had in the beginning, getting into the beat of the music. I notice that Tohru, however, has began to miss many arrows, and she is about to fail. I don't know how she could have gone from such a high score to almost failing so quickly- maybe she's distracted, perhaps? Then, I feel something cold and wet on the bottom of my feet. Not wanting to look away from the screen, I can't tell what it is, but all of a sudden,

"Whoa!" I cry out, for my foot slips, and I fall backwards towards the hard, marble floor. Thankfully, in the nick of time, I catch myself by grabbing the bar behind the DDR pad. I pull myself back on to the pad, my heart pounding and my hands shaking. That was a close call. If I had hit my head on the marble floor… well, I probably wouldn't have been able to get back up very easily. I look down at my feet, trying to figure out what had caused me to slip. Oddly, there's a spilt water bottle, lying overturned on my pad. _That_ was what caused me to slip. What is it doing there?

I look up at the screen. The scores flash.

TOHRU 50756 STANDARD MODE

KYO 50755 STANDARD MODE

KYO/TOHRU 50753 LIGHT MODE

"Oh," Tohru says with her sweet smile, "looks like I just beat you," I look at her like she's insane. Hadn't she seen me slip and fall? And if an open water bottle had been there, why didn't she see it? And why did it only spill on my side?

"Of course you beat me!" I cry, exasperatedly, "I think you could have beat anyone who slips and almost cracks their head open while they're playing the game!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," said Tohru, but she doesn't sound quite as sincere as usual, "that's Yuki's water bottle. He left it out last night, and I guess it was open… I'm sorry, I should have noticed it before you started playing…"

My eyes narrowed, and I feel a whole new kind of rage. That damn rat. He has tried to murder me yet again. First the sling, now this? Well, I will get him back. I will. He won't know when I'm coming. It might be in his sleep, or when he's not looking. Or maybe, I'll sneak upon him, when he least expects it. But one thing's for sure- I have to keep my guard up. I will not sleep until he's done away with. I will never let him sneak up on me again! Never!

"Good morning, Kyo," Ah! I screech and jump. Damn that two-faced rat, sneaking up on me! And saying something so… friendly. How on earth could he have the nerve? And after he tried to murder me? Maybe, it's all part of his plot. Maybe, he's got a knife in his pocket right now, and when I open my mouth to reply, he'll stick it down my throat, and stand over me, watching me die! Ha! I will not stand for that…

"Um, Kyo, are you deaf?"

"No, I'm not deaf, imbecile!" Oh no! I have opened my mouth! Now he will succeed in his plan! It's all over, it's all over, I'm going to die in the hands of Yuki…

"Are you… feeling alright?" He inquires. What! No knife! It must be a diversion. Well, whatever he's doing, I will not give in! I will defeat him once and for all!

"Don't think I don't know about your plot, you dirty piece of shit," I whisper, "I'm on to you," and then I walk away, not looking back. Yes, I will show him. If it's the last thing I do…


	9. Insomnia

Chapter 8: Insomnia

"_Phase two has begun. I've noticed that subject A has been showing signs of insomnia, and subject B has been showing signs of paranoia. It's all working out well, but there's just… something _missing._"_

"_Something missing? What do you mean?"_

"_I just always thought that revenge would feel… well, sweeter than it does now."_

"_Yuki, we do not have time for this. The Plan was not created only for your sake. No matter how you feel, you must go along with the Plan."_

"_And what if I refuse?"_

"_Then you shall suffer the consequences." _

I cannot sleep. Kyo cannot sleep. Yuki cannot sleep. We have not had food for two days now. It is dreadful. I cannot sleep because of _that_… _darn_… _machine_. Always watching me. Mocking me. I hate the Machine, and what it's turned me into. But I also love it. It is my joy, my pleasure, my one distraction from the cruel, biting reality.

I used to be such the optimist, believing that we'd escape this room unharmed. I was so wrong. So naïve. Although I do not have the physical scars, like Yuki and Kyo will have, I have mental scars that may not heal- I may never be like I once was.

Kyo cannot sleep because he's afraid, afraid that Yuki will attempt to murder him. I know he is wrong. I yearn to tell him, to clear my own mind, to clean my filthy hands, but no. I am simply not strong enough. This is another reason why I am unable to sleep.

I don't know why Yuki doesn't sleep. He's the only one of us with no worries, nothing to keep him awake at night. He's never killed anybody, betrayed anyone, never. The only thing he ever did was defend himself, nothing more. The bastard. So carefree. I can't believe how much I've changed from the person that I used to be. I sound insane. I think that I might be insane. I've gone off the deep end. Lost my marbles. I'm off my rocker. I laugh at how completely crazy I sound. I guess I've cracked, I'm off the edge; but I just… don't… _care_ anymore. I laugh again, as hard as I can, but it comes out in tears, wet, glassy tears. They stream down my face, while I am sitting here laughing. My face turns red, but I can't stop… laughing. I feel like crying, I feel like killing myself. But all I can do is laugh. I am such an idiot.

I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn around and see Kyo. It makes me cry more. He's so trusting of me, but I'm just a wretched, horrible person.

"Tohru, don't cry…" he says, "don't cry or I'll… oh, I don't know. Just don't cry." I want to kill him. But I also want to hug him. He's so trusting of me, but he has no idea. He has no idea what a horrible person I've become, what a horrible person I _am_…

"Kyo… what if we… what if we all end up dying here?" I say, trying to give him a reason why I'd be crying and upset. Actually, I don't mind if I die. I deserve to die.

"Tohru, you're not going to die," replied Kyo. His hand tightens its grip on my shoulder, "but I'm not so sure about me…" I go cold. Does he know? Do I want him to figure me out? Or do I still want to keep it a secret?

"That damn rat tried to kill me again," he said, "he purposefully left his water bottle out. Right where he knew I'd kick it over. He thought he could make me slip and fall. Well, he was wrong. So wrong. I _will_ get him back. Damn, I will get him back! Ha!" A burning look resides in his eyes. I don't like this…

"Kyo, you're blowing this out of proportion," I say, avoiding his eyes, "Yuki couldn't have done something like that on purpose!"

"Oh yeah? Well, he has a good reason. For one thing, he hates my guts. We both already knew that. But there's something else, Tohru…" his voice trails off eerily.

"What is it, Kyo?" I ask anxiously.

"Tohru… I think… I think he _knows_…"

"No, he couldn't. He couldn't possibly know. Hatori erased his memory, remember?" I am now beginning to get a bit worried…

"Then he must have figured it out or something,"

"But how?"

"I don't know… but, Tohru… he wants revenge. So he's gonna murder me for it."

"Kyo, I'm sorry, but you have to be more quiet- he's awake, you know…"

"He hasn't been sleeping?"

"No, he's got insomnia, just like the rest of us,"

"I wonder why?"

"I don't know… he's got no worries… unless you're right, and he _has _figured us out…"

"I hope not…"

"Shh!" I think he's coming over here…"

"Hello, Tohru, Kyo," Yuki said, oddly cheerfully. Kyo gave Yuki a puzzled look.

"Oh, hello Yuki," I say in a falsely sweet tone, tying to conceal my worries.

"So, I see you two haven't been sleeping," Yuki said, "Why's that?" I look at him strangely. Since when is Yuki so inquisitive?

"Why do you care anyway?" Growls Kyo.

"Nothing important," replies Yuki.

"Whatever," Kyo snarls back. He stands up and starts to walk towards the opposite wall. Then, he spots something on the ground- from here it looks like a small, rectangular object.

"What's this?" Says Kyo. Yuki looks at him and sees what he has picked up. Yuki, for some odd reason, looks shocked, and terrified, and rushes to Kyo.

"This looks like…" Kyo says, examining the object. I join the two, studying it.

"Don't touch that," Yuki says, oddly sternly.

"Why not?" says Kyo.

"You might get hurt… or maybe it'll kill you," Yuki says in a strange sounding way.

"What?" Kyo says darkly and glares at Yuki.

"Give it to me." says Yuki.

"No way!" replies Kyo, "Why should I let you have it?"

"Just give it to me," says Yuki, "it's for your own good."

"You know what, I don't care about this dumb thing anyway!" And with that, Kyo throws the object at the wall. Yuki looks pained and cringes as it hits the wall, smashing into tiny pieces.

"You idiot!" Yuki shrieks at Kyo, "look what you did! You destroyed my only way of…" Yuki stops mid sentence, looking wide eyed at Kyo.

"What?" Kyo inquires, looking suspiciously at him." Yuki does not reply, and Kyo doesn't ask again. But Yuki's strange behavior makes me feel a little strange. He's been so secretive this whole time that we've been here. It's like… he wasn't _quite _in the same boat as Kyo and I, like he was hiding something…

I look at the smashed object again. I am not positive- my assumptions are not always right… but that object looked a whole lot like a phone.

"_Hello? Hello? Yuki? Yuki!"_

"_Hatori, what's wrong?"_

"_I cannot reach Yuki. The communication device is malfunctioning."_

"_Well, you'd better fix it quickly. Is the visual device still working?"_

"_Yes. Thank God _something _is functioning properly."_

"_Yuki needs to fix that phone as soon as possible, or the operation may not progress as planned."_

"_Our little rat will fix it. Hopefully he's bright as well as beautiful…" _

"_You'd better be right, Akito."_


	10. Pleasant Memories

Chapter 9: Pleasant Memories 

Everyone thinks that my life is so perfect. All the girls in school love me, I live with my friends, and I am handsome and good at sports. But that's only the surface. Even though I am around so many people who like me, I am so alone. I don't have anybody that I can really talk to. The only one that I have is Haru. He's my only real friend. The only one that can listen, without lecturing, can tell when I'm upset, and cares about me. No one else can understand how I feel, not even Tohru. And she doesn't even pay much attention to me; she's always with that stupid cat.

I am walking home from school, not even bothering to wait for Tohru or Kyo. They probably won't even notice that I'm gone. Or maybe they already left. Tohru's not the type to ditch class, but a certain orange haired idiot probably could talk her into it.

I don't really feel like going home, listening to Shigure's dumb, perverted jokes, with nothing to do but watch TV and mope around. Maybe my obnoxious older brother would even be there. Shigure and Ayame together do not make a pleasant combination. So, I decide to go to the main house. To avoid Akito, I'll sneak in the secret back way. I approach the main house, my steps becoming lighter and lighter, not wanting to be discovered by the head of the family. It's so quiet, the air so still… even hearing yourself breathing seems to disturb the dead silence…

I just about jump out of my skin when I feel a hand on my shoulder and someone's voice saying, "Psst!" I whirl around and see-

"Haru!" I say, my heart pounding, "You scared me!"

"I guessed you'd come see me today," he says, coolly and calmly. I don't understand how he can be perfectly calm ninety percent of the time, and then at the worst times, become the rowdiest person on the face of the earth.

"Ssh! Haru, not so loud! You don't want Akito to hear us, do you?"

"Sorry," Haru said, and smiled a little. It's hard to be mad at him when he smiles.

We make our way to his room, being as quiet as we possibly can. We would have been lost, many times, considering Haru's sense of direction, but thankfully I remember the way from my last visit. Usually, I don't come to the main house, and he visits me at Shigure's.

We enter his room, silently closing the door. Haru sits down on his big armchair, and I sit on his bed.

"So," Haru says, looking very distinguished, calm and almost professional, "how was school, Yuki?" I can't help myself. I burst out laughing. It's so funny, how he looks and sounds just like a shrink. I guess I must be the mental patient.

"What's so funny?" he asks, looking at me quizzically.

"Oh, nothing," I tell him, "you just seem so much like a therapist, instead of a friend." Haru is the only one who can make me laugh. I don't really know why; it's not like he jokes or laughs a lot, but the things he does are just… funny.

"You know what, Yuki? You're really weird sometimes." He says, looking at me like I'm crazy. It's so strange to hear someone telling me _I'm _weird. I guess I'm kind of a different person when I'm with Haru. I open up more and be myself. Maybe it's because I trust him so much.

"You'd never say anything like that to anyone at school, would you," he said. It was a statement, not a question. I nod. "You know, if you didn't worry so much about what other people think of you, you'd probably be a lot happier. Then maybe you wouldn't feel the need to go to a "shrink-in-training" every day." I start to laugh again, but stop when I hear something- footsteps. Could it be Akito? Or Hatori, who would inform Akito? Well, whoever it was, it would be wise to-

"Hide," Haru says quickly, "the closet," I obey, and find a place to hide between the ripped shirts, tight pants, and trench coats. I crack the closet door open, so that I could see what was happening. Someone knocks on the door.

"Come in," Haru says calmly. The door opens quite forcefully, and in bounds a cheerful little rabbit.

"Hi, Haru!" says Momiji, " I just came in here cause I wanted you to help me with my homework! I don't really get what this means-"

"Okay, Momiji, I will help you, but I'm kind of busy right now, okay? Just a minute." Haru interrupts. It surprises me how much he can mask his annoyance.

"Fine, but please hurry!" Momiji says. Haru has to practically shove him out the door to get him to leave. He then listens to make sure he was gone, and then opened the closet door.

"That was a close one," he tells me, "Momiji wouldn't purposefully tell Akito you were here, but he tends to… slip sometimes," I nod.

"I should probably go," I say, "Momiji will be back soon, and it's late- Miss Honda will be getting worried. If you still want to talk, why don't you come over later tonight?"

"I might," he replies, once again in his cool, calm tone of voice, "if I'm not busy helping a certain rabbit all night…" He almost sounded sarcastic.

"Goodbye, I guess I'll see you later," I say, and start to climb out the window.

"Wait, Yuki…" he says, and I look back over my shoulder. "I know things are really hard for you right now, so if you ever need any help, or anyone to talk to… well, I'll always be here. You always know that you can count on me, okay?" I give him a warm smile.

"Thanks, Hatsuharu," I climb out the window, and start on the way back home. I'm glad that I have a friend like Haru. I know that no matter what, he'll always be here for me.


	11. The Betrayal

Chapter 10: The Betrayal 

By the time I reach home, it's already about 5:00. Miss Honda and that stupid cat were home over an hour ago. I quietly step inside the door. I am really not in the mood for a worried, ecstatic Tohru to greet me. I see from the door that she is in the kitchen, cooking dinner. It looks like miso soup and leeks. I chuckle under my breath. Kyo will just _love_ the dinner tonight…

I set my school backpack down, and sit down and start to watch the news. Tohru hears the TV, and runs into the room, tripping over my backpack in the process, falling down by my feet.

"I'm so sorry!" She pleads, although it was where I set my backpack that caused her to trip, "Did I hurt you?"

"No, Miss Honda," I sigh, "I'm fine. It's you that I'm worried about…" she blushes.

"Oh, I'm fine, one hundred percent, totally and completely fine, don't you worry about me…" I tune her out as she monologues about her well-being. Finally, she finishes, and states, "I'll get back to making dinner now… it's probably about to burn…" And I turn back to the television. Today's my lucky day. She must have forgotten that I was home late, so now I won't have to listen to her monologue about that, too…

"Oh, I almost forgot the whole reason why I came in here in the first place! Yuki, you came home late! Did something happen? Was it at school? Oh, you've got to tell me! Oh, but I'm being nosy, I'm so sorry-" I mentally slap myself. I guess I shouldn't count my chickens. Honestly, Tohru's a great person, but sometimes…

"-Tohru, I think I smell something burning…" I say, interrupting her. It was a good move on my part.

"Burning? Oh! The soup! Oh, no, I'm so sorry!" She cries as she runs into the room, tripping at least twice on her way there. Tohru is definitely a very… unique person, to say the least.

Soon, dinner is served, and Shigure, Tohru, Kyo, and I are seated at the table. It took a while to get Kyo down from the roof when he heard Tohru had made leaks.

"Why leeks? Kyo yells, "Nobody even likes the damn things! I think you make them just cause that rat likes them…"

"Kyo, I think you're the only one who doesn't have the etiquette to be courteous to your chef and eat the food. It's a sad thing when a meal this good is rejected…" Shigure says mournfully.

"………." Is Kyo's reply. He sits and stares disapprovingly at the food for a while, while the rest of us begin to eat. After about five minutes of sitting with no progress accomplished, and the food starting to get cold, Kyo finally announces, "okay, okay, I'LL EAT IT!" And he shoves the food into his mouth, grimacing in disgust. The three of us watch wide-eyed and dismayed as he crams more and more gobs of food down his throat. He finally finishes, and with one triumphant gulp, he utters, "Gross! Not only was that disgusting, but it was cold! Yuck!" I have to really try not to laugh. He's such an idiot sometimes… I guess I don't really hate him, exactly, just because he's such a good form of amusement.

When we all are done with our dinner, and Tohru has cleaned up, with my help, Kyo announces,

"I'm going out on the roof to train."

"I'll come with you, if you don't mind. The roof needs sweeping…" Tohru says, getting up and following Kyo. That's strange. Since when does Tohru sweep the roof? I, having nothing better to do, stood up, pushed in my chair, and went up to my room. I lay down on my bed. I eye my bedside clock, which reads "7:29". I remember that Haru was supposedly coming over later tonight. It's a comforting thought. I start to think about today's events, and what we would talk about. I get lost in my own thoughts, and soon I drift into a dreamless sleep…

I am awakened by loud noises and yelling. I look at my clock again, which now reads, "12:04." I have been asleep for five hours! I glance out my window. It's too dark to make out much, but there's three figures, two of them moving around, like they are fighting or something. Two of the figures are most likely Tohru and Kyo, but who's the third? Shigure, maybe? No, Shigure wouldn't be fighting with Kyo. That left one possibility: Haru. Maybe he did come to see me, and had gone black and picked a fight with Kyo. That was pretty likely. I don't really want to deal with the two of them, so I decide to go back to sleep, but can't, because their loud voices distract me.

"How could you do that, you idiots? You went behind his back! He trusted you!"

"I don't know what you think this is, but it's not what it looks like!"

"It's kind of obvious what you guys were doing out here… ugh, you make me sick, how you're betraying Yuki like this."

A light goes off inside my head when I hear my name.

"You guys, quiet down… he'll wake up. How about we just… don't tell him, okay? Everything will just stay the way it is if we don't tell him…"

"Of course I'll tell him! I'm not going to keep something like this from my best friend-"

"Haru, _don't_ tell him… or I'll… I'll…"

"You'll what, Kyo? You'll beat me up? Send me to the hospital? Maybe, if you're lucky, I'll get amnesia and forget that I ever saw you two!"

"Bastard!"

Then, I hear a lot of noises, like they're fighting, but a lot more seriously than usual… it scares me, how vicious they sound… I'm worried about them, mainly Haru, so I decide to venture outside and attempt to stop them. I walk briskly down out of my room, down the stairs, and out the front door. On the way there, I here something that disturbs me:

"Kyo, no! I'm sorry, but you're taking this too far! You've got to stop!"

"Not until he promises that he won't tell Yuki!"

"Kyo, please, stop! Kyo…" And then there were no more voices for a long time, until I hear Tohru say, "Oh, no…" in a soft whisper. I finally reach the trio… and my heart sinks, my stomach flips inside out.

Haru… or maybe just Haru's body… lies on the ground. One of his arms sticks out at a very irregular angle, and blood trickles from his lips onto the ground. He has a huge, deep wound on the side of his head, so bad that it exposes bone. I cannot say a word. I am in complete shock.

Tohru and Kyo must have heard me walk up. They slowly turn their heads towards me, wide-eyed and looking terrified. I take a good look at them. Both of their hair is messy, lying in matted clumps, with leaves stuck in it. Tohru's blouse is partially unbuttoned. At first I am confused, but then it all comes together inside my head:

Haru must have caught the two red-handed, kissing in the woods, or maybe something more. That's what Haru must have meant when he said that they betrayed me. And Haru was going to tell me. So Kyo tried to stop him, and it all ended up… like this.

I feel my eyes tear up. At first they are tears of sadness and regret. But then, they transform into tears of rage. My hands clench into fists as I look at Tohru and Kyo. Right now, at this very moment, only one thing is on my mind- _revenge_.


	12. The Plot

Chapter 11: The Plot 

It's been three weeks since the murder. Every time I look at Tohru or Kyo, I think of Haru, and how horrible he looked, lying on the ground… Shigure called an ambulance, but by the time they got him to the hospital, he had already died. I can barely stand to live anymore. Haru was the only one I could trust, the only thing I had to live for. I thought that I could trust Tohru, but I was wrong. My life went from bad to unlivable.

So when Shigure told me that I was to go to the main house, I felt like the world must be coming to an end. This was like a horrible nightmare. Not only did he tell me that I was going to the main house, but he told me that I might not be back for a long time.

"Why do I have to go?" I asked him.

"I honestly don't know," he said, "Hatori did not mention why you were going to the main house, nor why you wouldn't be back. He did say, however, that once you got there, that you would have a choice about whether you would stay or not."

"Then why don't I just not go?"

"Well, Hatori also said that if you listen to what he has to say, then maybe you'd stay out of your own free will."

"I highly doubt that," I said, but for some reason, I decided to go.

As Shigure's car pulls in front of the main house, it brings back lots of memories. Good memories of Haru, but terrifying memories of Akito. We enter the gates, and I shudder as I walk past the outside entrance to the "special room". As we pass down the long, internal hallway, on the way to Hatori's office, I remember when I traveled this very path to Haru's room. I look at his door, which is open, and realize that all of his belongings have been emptied out, leaving only bare walls and floor. I want to cry; that room is exactly how I feel- emptied out.

We reach Hatori's office. It surprises me when Shigure opens the door and motions for me to step in, but does not enter himself.

"Aren't you staying?" I ask.

"No, Hatori has asked to speak to you alone," He says, "goodbye, Yuki," he speaks in a light, happy tone, but somehow it's not very believable. He steps through the door, closing it behind him.

I look ahead, and there is Hatori, sitting in a big armchair, facing the opposite wall.

"Hello, Yuki," He says. "I haven't spoken with you in a while," I decide to get right to the point.

"What do you want to speak to me about?"

"I will tell you momentarily. But first I have to explain something." I nod. "Do you know what Schizophrenia is?" he says, turning his armchair around so that he was facing me.

"Somewhat," I say, wondering what that has to do with anything, "Isn't it when someone thinks that everyone is out to get them, or aliens are taking over their bodies or something?"

"Exactly," replies Hatori. Schizophrenia is a disease of the brain that causes its victims to suffer severe cases of paranoia, or the victim may become delusional."

"But what, I ask, does this have to do with anything?"

"If you be patient, I will explain it all," Hatori says, sounding slightly annoyed. "You are also very aware that the head of the family is extremely ill, right?"

"Right," I say, not sure where he was going with his story.

"Well, not only is he physically ill, but we have fairly recently discovered that Akito is ill mentally as well."

"Well, we all already knew that," I say, with a sharp edge to my voice. Hatori glares at me.

"Yuki, Akito has been diagnosed with a severe case of Schizophrenia," I am a little surprised when I hear this, but not too shocked.

"So… you brought me here just to tell me more about Akito's problems?" I say, still not understanding.

"No, I came here to ask you something, if you will just listen,"

"Okay, I'll be quiet," I sigh.

"Now, all of Akito's life, he's been very sick. So sick that all his capabilities can enable him to do is non-strenuous activities, for instance reading, and more importantly, video games." I raise one eyebrow, extremely confused about where he was going with this.

"I know this all sounds perfectly ordinary and expected, but there is one very peculiar thing about this- the signs of Paranoia began to surface around the same time as Akito began to play these simulated games," he continues, "so, I decided to try an experiment, so that I could discover if these two seemingly unrelated things could somehow be connected. Before, no one has known how Schizophrenia was caused, but I believe that I may be on the verge of a scientific breakthrough." I nod again, urging him to continue.

"You already know that I am a doctor, but you don't know that I am also a scientist," he explains, "and, for about three weeks, I have been doing an experiment. I have been working with a class of small children, in which all day, they play different video games. They are not aware that these games are actually tests. They are all different kinds of games, from the old simple ping-pong games, to racing games, to quest games. Sure enough, I discovered symptoms of unusual violence and paranoia beginning to surface after about one week. I also discovered that there were two factors that seemed to be most effective: extremely fast and frantic motion, and loud, fast-paced music that raises the speed of heartbeat. I have now found a game that contains both of these factors: the popular arcade game, Dance Dance Revolution."

"Dance Dance Revolution?" I ask, bewilderedly, "You mean that game that everyone is playing at school?"

"Yes. Exactly. I looked through all of the games that Akito had been playing at the time that his Schizophrenia was discovered, and sure enough, Dance Dance Revolution was one of them. In fact, his mother informed me that that was the game that he played most often; it was his only form of exercise, and it increased his heart rate, which could help to extend Akito's life span."

"I guess that makes sense," I say.

"Anyway, this is where my story begins to involve you," Hatori says, "I am about to conduct another study, but instead of using small children, this time, I will use people around the age that Akito was when he began to show his symptoms, and also the age when he started playing Dance Dance Revolution. This age is around sixteen,"

"Sixteen," I wonder aloud, "That's my age!"

"Yes, and it's also the age of the other two teenaged members in your home."

"Tohru and Kyo…" I snarl bitterly.

"Right again. Now, Yuki, I do know what happened between the two of them and Hatsuharu," My heart sinks at the thought of Haru, "you must have some very hard feelings about that," he says sympathetically.

"You're right," I agree.

"Now, this may not sound like something I would say, but… would you like a chance for revenge?"

"Revenge?"

"Yes. You see, all three of you are at the right age to participate in the study. All I would have to do is use you three. I promise you that Tohru and Kyo _will_ suffer, as much or even more than you did. Of course, you would not be a formal part of the study, but rather a moderator, who would check in with me, and tell me what's been happening. I will have a visual monitor as well, but it will be helpful to hear about things first-hand."

"So… this study… how does it work, exactly?"

"It's quite simple. The three of you are locked in a room, with nothing but a Dance Dance Revolution machine. The only thing you will have is the clothes on your back. Tohru and Kyo will not receive food and water unless they show signs of paranoia and/or violence, but you will have food whenever you desire it, because you are the moderator."

"You are twisted," I say, not believing my ears.

"I suppose I am," says Hatori, "but this study is for the good of science, nothing more."

"So, hypothetically, if I were to agree to this study, when would we start?"

"Oh, as soon as possible. Tonight, even."

"What will happen tonight?"

"Don't worry. I'll take care of everything. I warn you though, if you back out of this before we're through, there could be consequences…"

"I don't care. I'll do it."

"Alright, then… the next time I see you, you will have fulfilled your revenge. Oh, one more thing- just so that the study is not fixed, all of the other Sohmas, and of course, Tohru Honda, will simply believe that I have erased your memory here, nothing more. Now, I'm afraid that I will have to knock you out in order to begin the study… I apologize for any inconvenience…" he opens up one of his drawers and pulls out a syringe. He sterilizes it with alcohol, and the last thing I remember is Hatori telling me, "This won't hurt a bit…"


	13. Death

Chapter 11: Death

"_Things are _not _progressing as planned! Yuki has not fixed the phone yet, cutting off any means of communication or instructions! I fear for his life. Through the visual monitor, I have noticed that Kyo is showing signs of _extreme_ violence and paranoia, so extreme that Yuki, and possibly Tohru are in terrible danger. Mental danger, if not physical danger. We must terminate the experiment at once!"_

"_NO, HATORI! This experiment is EVERYTHING that you live for! Why abort it now? Can't you see this is a big mistake?"_

"_I will not put their lives in danger like this! I must do something! I don't care about the experiment anymore, I simply care for their survival…" _

I am going to do it tonight. I've already decided how I will do it. When I found that "mysterious object" on the ground, which I have now discovered to have been a phone, and threw it at the wall, it smashed into tiny pieces. One of these pieces was very sharp, shaped almost like a knife. Neither Yuki, nor Tohru knows this, only myself. Tonight, I will wait until Yuki least expects it, and then I will take the "knife" and stab him, stab him until he is gone from this world, until he can no longer blacken the corners my mind with hate. But I have decided to do this not only for myself, but for Tohru also. Once he's gone, we will have the whole world to ourselves. We can do anything we want, with out that meddling bastard getting in our way. Someone had already tried to push into our business, that smart ass, Hatsuharu. And we all remember what happened to him.

I will murder him tonight, when Yuki goes to sleep. Kyo is too naïve for his own good. I will dispose of him, so that he will no longer eat away at my soul every time that I look at him. He's so trusting of me, and yet he does not know what my real intentions are for him. I am killing him not only for me, but for Yuki as well. This way, neither of us will have to suffer when we look at his face. I'm sure that Yuki remembers out little ordeal with Haru. I don't think that Hatori ever erased his memory at all. And he probably hates Kyo more than he hates me. I'm sure that I could win my way back into Yuki's heart if it weren't for Kyo.

How will I do it, you ask? Well, it's very simple. I have pulled the cord out from behind the DDR machine, when Kyo and Yuki weren't looking. I shall strangle Kyo, in his sleep, or maybe just when he turns his head the other way, unsuspectingly. But then, before he knows it, he'll be gone, gone forever from this cruel world. And no one will ever guess who killed him…

I'm so sick of the two of them. Just the way they act all the time, so innocent, like they never did anything to me, like it's all a big joke or something. Idiots. Well, by the end of tonight, they'll both be dead, and they'll never even know what hit them. This is not the revenge I seek, being trapped in this room. I need more. I will not be satisfied until blood is shed from both of them, just like the blood of my best friend. Tonight, they will lie on the ground, motionless, just like he had. And they will feel the pain, just like both of us. Unbearable, physical and mental agony. Ha! They'll never even suspect me, until it's too late, until they are both already dead. Tonight is the night that I finally get my revenge. The cold, sweet revenge I always dreamed of…

Yuki, Kyo and Tohru all sat in different corners of the large room. Each seemed unnaturally stiff, with their hands shaking. Each one thought that the other two were shaking because of lack of sleep, but that was not the case at all, little did they know. Each was completely unaware of the devious planning that the other two were up to.

They were all waiting for just the right moment, when the victim they were targeting would look away, or go to sleep. But none of them did; they were too focused on beginning their plans.

Kyo was, naturally, the first one to begin to get impatient. It didn't look like Yuki would ever let his guard down. He just sat there, looking ahead, lost in his own thoughts. But with his reflexes, Kyo was sure that Yuki would spot any sudden movements. He drummed his fingers impatiently on the marble floor, and he began to grind his teeth together, which made a dreadful sound, much like scraping marbles together. Suddenly, out of nowhere came a voice, Yuki's voice.

"Stop that," he said, sounding so irritated that it was almost disturbing.

"No," said Kyo, a sadistic smirk on his face. He ground his teeth harder. Maybe he could provoke Yuki into getting so angry that he let his guard down…

"Stop… that… _right now_," Yuki replied, his hands clenching into fists of rage, his eyes narrowing into slits, his teeth clenching. It was uncanny how much he resembled Akito… Kyo gritted his teeth louder yet, so that the noise was unbearable to Yuki.

"YOU IDIOT!" Yuki cried out of pure rage, and he stood up, and ran at full speed towards Kyo. Kyo, of course, anticipated this, and stood up also, that sadistic smile still on his face. As Yuki approached him, he felt for the sharp object inside his pocket, getting ready to use it. When Yuki was within ten feet of Kyo, he expected Yuki to throw a punch, or try to kick him or something, and he was pretty sure that he could dodge a blow of that sort fairly easily. So Kyo was incredibly shocked and surprised when he felt a white-hot pain in his the left side of his chest. He gasped, tasting blood in his mouth. He looked down and saw that Yuki had stabbed him, with a long, sharp knife.

Yuki was now the one with the evil grin.

"Where… did you get the knife…" Kyo wheezed, choking on blood. He thought that his plan was foolproof, foolproof! There was no way that something like this could have happened!

"I got this knife from Hatori, right before he locked you two in here,"

"You… you were in on this?" Kyo gasped.

"Yes, I was part of this plan from the very start," Yuki said, as he dug the knife deeper into Kyo's chest.

"How does it feel, Kyo?" said Yuki, his hand shaking. "How does it feel to die? How does it feel to have someone _kill_ you, and you lay there dying, not able to do anything about it?" He then laughed maniacally, and said something else, which Kyo could not understand. But then, the smirk came over Kyo's face once again, and in spite of the great pain, he still managed to say,

"Oh, but I _can _do something about it, Yuki…" and with that he wrenched the knife out of his own chest, trying not to scream in agony, and before Yuki realized anything, Kyo plunged the knife into Yuki's heart. Yuki's eyes bulged and his jaw dropped. Blood spilled from his mouth as he fell to his knees. Kyo pulled the knife out of his chest, and Yuki fell all the way to the ground. Kyo felt for a pulse, but there was none. He smiled to himself. Yuki was finally dead. Now, he could spend the rest of his life with Tohru, with no distractions at all, no one to bother them. Finally, his worst enemy was dead, and his number one problem was solved. He began to laugh, as hard as he ever had. It was not a pleasant sounding laugh, however. It was a twisted laugh. The kind of laugh that a serial killer would laugh. But his evil, terrible laughter was interrupted by a soft, female voice behind him.

"Before you go, Kyo, I have to say… _I'm sorry…_" And then, before Kyo had any time to react, he felt a rope around his neck, strangling him. He gasped for air, clutching his throat. He struggled, but it was no use. Everything around him began to blur, and his struggling began to decease. His one last thought was, "_no! I can't die now! Everything was supposed to be… perfect…"_ and then, everything faded to permanent black.


	14. Epilogue

Epilogue

The Dance Dance Revolution machine moved aside, revealing a door, which burst open. Tohru, still holding the chord from the DDR machine, stood dumbly over Kyo, who lay motionless on the ground. The figure that burst into the room was Hatori, who had come to save their lives. But it was too late. The boy who had originally wanted revenge had now been killed.

However, Tohru did not see Hatori standing there. Instead, she saw arrows. Nothing but little tiny floating arrows, in place of a body. And when Hatori spoke, she did not hear a human voice. Instead she heard music, which got faster and louder, faster and louder, faster and louder, until it was just unbearable.

"AAHHH!" She began to cover her ears, screaming in agony. "NO! NO MORE ARROWS, NOT THE MUSIC! NO!" And she was so lost in her own disturbed mind that she didn't even notice when Hatori picked her up, and carried her to his car, where she would soon be transported to an insane asylum.

Hatori opened the door to the white room again, wearing white latex gloves, expecting to have to take care of two dead bodies. But what surprised him was that Yuki's body was there… but there was no Kyo. That could only mean one thing- Kyo was still alive, and he had escaped.

_Kyo opened his eyes. Everything looked fuzzy, like when he had been awakened by Tohru, and seen the white room for the first time. He looked over at Yuki's body, and for a minute forgot what had just happened. He then remembered- he had killed Yuki. But… if he had killed Yuki, then why had he been knocked out? Wait… it all came back to him. _Tohru_ had tried to kill him. That damn girl. She always acted so innocent. But she really had been out to get him from the start. Well, he would have his revenge. He would find her, and soon, she would suffer the same fate as Yuki…_

**THE END **


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